L or Kira? Will Justice Prevail?
by SoundzofSilence
Summary: It's Rin Hidaka's birthday and she gets two big surprises. She gets an unpleasant one from her friend, and a pleasant, surprising one from a stranger. The choise is presented to her: L or Kira? What if the stranger is Kira?


**12:45 PM**

**Touou University, Japan**

Briskly striding toward the cafeteria to grab her lunch before the crowd, Rin smiled and hummed her newest favorite song, occasionally singing a few words under her breath. It was two days after the Touou University Welcome Ceremony and Rin had been fortunate enough to pass her entrance exams. To her, it felt like high school all over again.

"Happy Birthday!"

Her high school friend, Alexandra, who had moved to Japan from America ran towards her from the cafeteria. Alexandra's class was much closer to the cafeteria than Rin's, therefore it hardly surprised the black-haired girl that her up-beat brunette friend had beaten her to the spacious lunch room. However, it appeared Alexandra had run in and run out, a cake slice in hand.

Alexandra skidded to a stop, a huge smile on her face. "I managed to convince the lunch ladies behind the counter to give me this because it's your birthday and all. You're welcome," she smirked, holding up the thick cake slice. The piece was chocolate, iced in vanilla and decorated with colorful rainbow sprinkles.

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Rin grinned, ignoring her American friend's smugness. She brushed her long ebony bangs from tickling her green eyes to gaze clearly at the gift. Alexandra was unusually thoughtful today. Then Rin noticed something, and frowned. "Where's the fork?"

"You won't need one."

"Huh?"

Before her mind could connect the pieces, Alexandra shoved the cake in her Japanese friend's face and rubbed it in a little. As Rin tried not to breathe frosting through her nose, she felt the pressure disappear and heard Alexandra laugh, her voice fading. She must have been running toward the cafeteria. "Happy Birthday Rin!"

_'I should have expected this,'_ she mentally scowled at herself for falling for Alexandra's trick, hook, line, and sinker. Peeling the thin paper plate from her face, the majority of the ruined chocolate cake fell onto the front of her navy blue uniform, also on her white undershirt and crimson tie.

Wiping the frosting from her eyes and glancing down, Rin only became more irritated at her lack of common sense. _'Damn. I should have leaned forward when I did that.'_ Her lip curling, the college student picked a piece off her chest and ate it moodily.

"She would do well to remember that her birthday is a few months after mine," Rin muttered to herself, heading away from the cafeteria. Now seemed like a perfect opportunity to explain to her chemistry sensei what had happened and ask if she could take off her navy blazer, also avoid all the students in the cafeteria. "I could make this look like nothing compared to her little stunts."

Still somewhat put-off, Rin picked the chocolate cake crumbs from her blazer and ate them one by one. Walking cooled her temper, but she felt a smoldering irritation toward her American friend. Shedding her soiled blazer, Rin carried it in the crook of her arm, loosening her crimson tie on the way to her chemistry sensei to explain.

"Luckily I wore a shirt beneath my white undershirt for a potentially hazardous chemistry experiment, but I wasn't quite expecting to wear this all day," she murmured, unbuttoning her chocolate and sprinkle-stained undershirt. She hung it in the crook of her arm with her blazer. "Oh well, I hope sensei doesn't mind that my homemade shirt says 'L or Kira—Will justice prevail?'"

Silently, Rin was grateful the majority of the students was in the cafeteria and wouldn't see her face smeared in cake and frosting, which would be humiliating. Also, it would be difficult to live down. Humming her favorite song again, Rin was focused so intently on arriving to her class that she unintentionally ignored someone attempting to grab her attention.

"It is rather rude to ignore someone addressing you."

Rin blinked, startled out of her one-track mind set. "Excuse me? Were you trying to—sorry, my mind was rather hell-bent on its course. Hello Ryuga Hideki." She smiled at the bizarre, slightly hunched over student who stared at her intently; she guessed his ebony eyes were evaluating her.

"You know me?" he asked, his expression seemingly devoid of all emotion. Even his tone would have been flat aside from a little curiosity coloring his voice.

"Not personally, but you were the other freshman class representative. I was impressed so I memorized your name, if that is your real name."

Taking a step forward, Ryuga slid his hands in his pockets and stared directly into her green eyes. "What makes you think it's not my real name?"

"I don't pin you as an admirer of the idol Ryuga Hideki, and with Kira running amok, it's handy to have an alias," Rin explained with a sly smile. "I suspect you are using the name Ryuga Hideki so if someone at this college is Kira, and the idol dies, you will know Kira is at Toutou University."

Ryuga Hideki seemed to silently consider her words, and Rin used the silence to wipe some of the vanilla frosting from her face, licking it off her fingers.

"You are perceptive…Forgive me for not asking earlier, but what is your name?" the college student asked, reminding Rin of a crow or raven.

"Naomi Akita."

"That's not what I heard at the Welcoming Ceremony, Rin Hidaka."

This 'Ryuga Hideki' was rather perceptive too and had an excellent memory; he had fallen for her trap, but she wondered whether he had done it on accident or on purpose. She assumed the latter. Rin smiled. "You got me, Ryuga."

"Why is there cake on your face?" he asked, now gazing at her face with what could be hunger.

She sighed. "It's Alexandra's way of saying 'Happy Birthday' to me."

"Really? I had no idea. Happy Birthday," he told her in a monotone voice. "I could have gotten you a gift."

Rolling her eyes, Rin smiled at a sudden epiphany. "You can. I'm guessing you haven't eaten lunch yet and you're eyeing the cake on my face. Go for it." Shutting her green eyes, she leaned forward so their faces were less than a foot away, waiting.

"That's a rather strange request," he mused, but by the tone of his voice, Rin could tell he seriously considered her offer.

She cracked open an eye. "Please hurry before I change my mind."

Without further prodding, Ryuga Hideki reached out and, with an expert twist of his wrist, swiped a rather large glob of vanilla frosting from her forehead. Shutting her eye, Rin heard him 'hmm' and then he casually commented, "Delicious."

She smiled and allowed him to continue. It felt odd…blindly allowing a random guy to eat cake off her face, although Rin was grateful he used his hands rather than his lips or tongue. Conversation ran dry for a few minutes and she contented herself with the silence.

"Where did you buy that shirt? I might like one."

"I made it," Rin murmured.

"Interesting…what inspired you?"

Now she had to giggle. "Duh, the craziest, most hardcore mystery case in the history of mankind! The psychological battle between L and Kira is quite fascinating. It's a shame, however, that lives are at stake."

"It is," Ryuga agreed as he delicately removed frosting from a section of her bangs. "Who do you prefer? L or Kira?"

"Hmm…that is a difficult question for me," Rin admitted slowly, thinking. "It is difficult because of the matter itself is gray, and I see the pros and cons of either person or 'side' if you will."

"That's understandable. Let's begin with your opinion of Kira." Ryuga sounded truly interested.

"Alright. Kira kills criminals or those guilty of wronging others, something that is admirable and from someone who wants a better, purer world…It's amusing that Kira can enforce the law better than the police force, but then again it's undermining the authority that upholds the law which could be potentially problematic in the future for the police…The killing of criminals itself, the judgment, I believe is unfair. What are you doing to my nose?"

"Sorry. Please continue."

"I believe judging other people, even criminals is unfair, because they are human too. Humans are quick to judge others, but expect mercy from those they judged. That's why Kira is getting public support. However, they should be worried that they are next. With Kira there is no forgiveness, no second chance. If Kira triumphs, this will become a world of fear and paranoia."

"Not that I mean to interrupt, but I didn't hear any pros," Ryuga mentioned.

"Um, a world with less crime?"

"…"

"I'm a realist and pessimist, okay."

He ignored her comment. "What is your opinion of L?"

"L…from what I could gather, he wants to prevent this world of fear. His methods are more humanitarian toward mankind as a whole. He believes Kira is a murderer, which is true…" Rin trailed off. "That feels nice…Thank you."

"You're welcome." Ryuga's thumb was moving in a circular pattern on her forehead, reminding her of a massage. He was almost finished removing the frosting from her face.

"Um…where was I?"

"Kira is a murderer…"

"…and it's rumored he's a god, which is utter nonsense, but that's difficult to argue against with criminals dying of heart attacks. However, L uses his own skills and whatever is at hand, unlike Kira who uses something akin to Austin Powers' mojo."

"You sound like a supporter of L," Ryuga commented.

Smiling, Rin cracked open an emerald eye. "I do, don't I?" It silently startled her that his face still remained within a foot of hers. His index finger and thumb delicately wiping away the remnants of frosting, she noticed that sometime during their conversation, Ryuga had slipped his other hand behind her head so she couldn't tilt it back.

His eyes met hers. "That's dangerous. What if I was Kira?"

"You're not," Rin answered confidently.

"What makes you think so?"

Bravely, she held his stare and whispered, "You would have killed me after I mentioned you were using Ryuga Hideki's name as an alias to find the real Kira, who happens to be at Toutou. You seem more like a detective to me, Ryuga—asking my opinions on Kira and L, figuring out my thought process, noticing my deductive skills. For all you know, I could be Kira."

"You could not be, Rin Hidaka," the black-haired college student replied immediately.

"Why not?"

"You do not have the eyes of a murderer."

"Kira kills with no remorse and if he did feel guilty, he would have committed suicide, turned himself in, or would have been clever enough to conceal his guilt. Even if you were L, and had access to every one of my records, it would be folly not to consider me a Kira suspect," Rin smirked, wondering if she had gone mad. She must be slipping today—letting a guy she only knew by name clean cake from her face, and now saying she was Kira! She could be imprisoned!

"Why might you be Kira?"

Since she was clearly losing it today, Rin decided it wouldn't hurt to go a little further. She leaned forward so her lips were beside Ryuga's ear and whispered tauntingly, "My records are cleaner than freshly fallen snow, but they say nothing of my personality. I could be the smartest, prettiest, and most intelligent little bookworm in my class according to my records, but secretly, I could be thinking the world would be just a little better with one less criminal in the world."

Pulling back, the black-haired girl brushed her sticky bangs from her eyes. "You see, Ryuga? I would be intelligent enough to get away murder and, if I ignored my conscience or thought of people as less than my equals, I could be Kira. My looks would become a manipulative tool. I could have it all."

"But you are not Kira," Ryuga added with a small smile, dropping his hands from her head. "You do sound like you could be Kira if you wanted to, but I know you are not. You revealed far too much and spoke hypothetically. My instincts tell me you are just an ordinary college student who sees more than most people and uses her brain."

Rin smiled at the compliment. "Thank you for getting that cake and frosting off my face. It would have been a waste to wash it down the drain."

"I missed a spot," Ryuga informed her, placing his one hand behind her head again. His eyes had lit up as if something she said had been of vital importance. What happened next took Rin completely off guard. Pulling her face toward his, with no hesitance, Ryuga swiftly pecked Rin Hidaka on the lips and then, still smiling, dropped his hand from behind her head.

"What was that for?" Rin demanded, her tone embarrassed and curious, and she began to blush.

Ryuga Hideki's smile grew a little. "You inspired me."

"Um, you're…welcome."

* * *

As he headed toward the cafeteria, although lunch had almost passed, the college student known as Ryuga Hideki, who was actually Ryuzaki or L, headed to find Yagami Light. Thanks to Rin, she had unknowingly strengthened his convictions that Chief Yagami's son was Kira.

It was time for a little tennis match.


End file.
